Interesting facts about dinosaurs and information about reptiles

The origins of dinosaurs on Earth

• Dinosaurs appeared on Earth during the Triassic period, the oldest period of the Mesozoic era, about 237 million years ago.
• The name “dinosaur” comes from the Greek words “Deimos” and “Sauros,” meaning “terrible lizard,” although dinosaurs were not lizards.
• Many extinct vertebrates are colloquially referred to as dinosaurs, but plesiosaurs, pterosaurs, mosasaurs, and ichthyosaurs were not dinosaurs.
• Currently living birds are direct descendants of extinct avian dinosaurs.
• It is believed that there were almost 4,000 genera of dinosaurs on Earth, most of which did not survive in fossil form to our time, and we know nothing about them.
• Dinosaurs occupied nearly every environment on prehistoric Earth.
• Over the 135 million years when dinosaurs ruled the Earth, they had to adapt multiple times to the changing conditions of the world they lived in. This led to the emergence of new species through evolution and the extinction of others.

Interesting facts about Dinosaurs – The largest dinosaurs

• The largest and heaviest dinosaurs ever to have lived on Earth were sauropods.
• Contemporary whales are larger than the largest dinosaurs that have been reconstructed.
• It is believed that the most powerful sauropods achieved evolutionary success in their time. Their size protected them from almost all predators, and the vegetation they fed on was lush and plentiful.
• The largest reconstructed dinosaur skeleton is housed in the Natural History Museum in Berlin.
• The largest dinosaurs could weigh up to 260 tons and measure nearly 60 meters in length.
• Australotitan cooperensis is a species of dinosaur whose remains were discovered in Australia in 2006. It is the largest dinosaur discovered on this continent.
• The largest dinosaurs were likely very slow and gentle, although this is not certain.
• Large herbivorous dinosaurs could consume up to a ton of plants per day.

Interesting facts about Dinosaurs – The smallest dinosaurs

• Knowledge of which dinosaur was the smallest has been lost, as the remains of tiny creatures did not survive the test of time.
• The smallest non-avian dinosaurs ever found were about the size of pigeons.
• One of the smallest discovered dinosaurs was Wannanosaurus. The name means “lizard from Wannano,” the place where the fossils were found.
• The smallest dinosaur ever found is believed to be Oculudentavis khaungraae. The fragment that fell into the hands of scientists is a tiny, measuring only seven millimetres, skull embedded in amber. It’s wonderful that some tiny creature 99 million years ago got its head stuck in a drop of resin, and today we can see its bones. (There is an ongoing debate in the scientific community about whether the amber skull belonged to a lizard.)
• Anchiornis is a small, feathered dinosaur related to modern birds. It measured only 34 centimetres in length and weighed no more than an undersized chicken.
• Most of the smallest dinosaurs primarily fed on insects, small fish, and lizards. However, there were herbivores among them.

Interesting facts about dinosaurs – Predatory dinosaurs

• The Tyrannosaurus rex, often abbreviated as T. rex, is perhaps the most recognizable dinosaur in pop culture.
• Tyrannosaurs could measure up to 12 meters in length and weigh almost 7 tons.
• A T. rex could consume up to 200 kilograms of meat for dinner, and immediately after would set out searching for another prey.
• A distinctive feature of the Tyrannosaurus rex was its giant head and powerful, heavily muscled jaws, which enabled it to bite through even thick bones of its prey.
• It is believed that the Tyrannosaurus rex had a bite force exceeding 6 tons.
• Tyrannosaurs were true killing machines, but not the only ones. During the millions of years when dinosaurs ruled the Earth, many dangerous predators appeared.
• The Majungasaurus was an excellent hunter, with a body length comparable to that of a Tyrannosaurus rex, but it was very short, not exceeding 3 meters in height.
• The Allosaurus is another true monster on our list of the most predatory dinosaurs. It preyed along the banks of rivers and floodplains, where it would ambush its victims. In the scientific literature, Allosaurus is referred to as the “butcher of the Jurassic.”
• The Spinosaurus, known as the “spiny lizard,” is considered one of the largest predatory dinosaurs whose remains have been found.
• Predatory dinosaurs fed on other dinosaurs, but also their eggs and carrion.

The great extinction of dinosaurs

• The great extinction of dinosaurs began at the end of the Cretaceous period, about 66 million years ago. During this time, all dinosaurs disappeared from the Earth’s surface, except for birds. Some species of reptiles such as lizards, crocodiles, snakes, and turtles also survived.
• The extinction of dinosaurs forever changed the landscape of the Earth at that time. However, there were also periods of mass extinction before this. The largest occurred 250 million years ago at the boundary of the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras. During this event, over 90 percent of all living creatures on Earth died, leaving the planet almost lifeless.
• Today, we know that not all dinosaurs became extinct. The birds we see in our skies are direct descendants of dinosaurs.
• In 2021, a team of scientists led by Fabiana Condamina published a paper based on years of research, demonstrating that the great extinction of dinosaurs was not sudden, as previously thought, but began much earlier. About 10 million years before their complete disappearance. According to the researchers, global changes on Earth, which were becoming cooler, were to blame for this.
• The theory of an asteroid impact explains the final disappearance of dinosaurs.
• Along with the dinosaurs, three-quarters of plant and animal species disappeared from the Earth.
• Confirmation of the theory of an asteroid impact is the discovery of a crater measuring 180 kilometres, located on the border of the Gulf of Mexico and the Yucatan Peninsula. Furthermore, a geological layer containing large amounts of heavy metals and other compounds found in asteroids has been recorded worldwide from that period.
• The disappearance of dinosaurs allowed for the development and rapid diversification of mammal species.

Dinosaurs in pop culture

• Dinosaurs have conquered today’s pop culture, finding their place in cinema, novels, and even music.
• Below you’ll find a list of dinosaur movies that I, personally, enjoyed, and you’ve probably heard of them too:
  • Jurassic Park is a classic series of films about mighty reptiles.
  • Walking with Dinosaurs is a dramatized version of the BBC documentary series. The film exists in 3D, and that’s the version I recommend.
  • One Million Years B.C. is a film from 1966, with little scientific value, but it helps understand how our knowledge about these creatures has evolved.
  • Land of the Lost is a comedy featuring my favourite comedic actors, Will Ferrell and Danny McBride. While the story isn’t directly about dinosaurs, a Tyrannosaurus appears in a few scenes.
• Now that you know my favourite dinosaur movies, it’s time for books:
  • Dinosaurs A to Z is a book aimed at young readers but provides substantial knowledge about these wonderful creatures.
  • The New Dinosaurs is a new book offering a fresh perspective on how the scientific world has changed its approach to dinosaur knowledge. Through modern scientific methods, the book explores details of extinct reptiles’ lives such as their feeding habits, skin colours, and mentality.
  • By the Circle. Modern Prehistory tells the story of a scientist who spends his life trying to prove that dinosaurs did not become extinct, but instead moved to places where humans cannot reach.
  • Finally, the SF series “The Dinosaur Lords” by Victor Milan. The author created an alternate world where dinosaurs did not become extinct and are part of the human world.
• Dinosaurs have especially captured the imagination of children, where they fit in perfectly. Dozens of animated films, songs, LEGO sets, and games with dinosaurs in the lead roles are being created.
• Theme parks related to dinosaurs are also very popular. An example is Dino Park Algar in Spain.
• Fascinating facts about dinosaurs are often found in children’s literature.

Other interesting facts about dinosaurs

• The science of studying animals that lived millions of years ago, including dinosaurs, is called palaeontology.
• One of the characteristic features of dinosaurs that distinguishes them from other reptiles is the large openings in their skulls.
• An entire nest with well-preserved dinosaur eggs was discovered in 1923 in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia. Thanks to this finding, it was possible to determine exactly how dinosaurs reproduced.
• Dinosaur eggs could be the size of a large basketball, but smaller ones the size of today’s ostrich eggs were also found.
• Legends about dragons are believed to have originated when people found fossilized dinosaur skulls.
• The first written mentions of mysterious dragon bones come from China and were recorded almost 4,000 years ago.
• In Europe, dinosaur bones were first described in 1667 in Robert Plot’s book, “The Natural History of Oxford.”
• Dinosaur bones, even the largest ones, were sometimes hollow inside, which helped reduce the total mass of the animals.
• One of the most significant discoveries for science was finding the dinosaur trackway in China. It is over a hundred meters long, showing the path taken by these gigantic creatures, and their footprints have fossilized in pristine condition.
• When we hear about dinosaurs, we almost always think of the largest or most dangerous representatives of the species. However, in reality, most dinosaurs were small, rarely exceeding the size of today’s domestic animals.
• How long did individual dinosaur species live? There is no straightforward answer to this question, but scientists believe that some dinosaurs could have lived for hundreds of years.
• Facts about dinosaurs are just that—facts. Much of the information circulating not only on the internet but also in scientific literature is largely based on speculation.
• Much of what we know about the appearance of dinosaurs, their smell, or the sounds they made is simply speculation and was developed by comparing fossils with species of animals currently living.
• Fascinating facts about dinosaurs are part of our travel and trivia section.

Information sources:

• Steve Brusatte, “Era dinozaurów. Od narodzin do upadku” (Polish title), published by Znak Horyzont in 2018.
• “Birds are Dinosaurs: Simple Answer to a Complex Problem” by Alan Feduccia, published in 2003.
• Wikipedia.

These sources likely contain valuable information about dinosaurs and their evolutionary history. If you have any specific questions or need information from these sources, feel free to ask!